I can remember well a lovely session in a Blairgowrie festival pub in 1967 with some travelling folk. I think we had started it, but they came up with some lovely old songs, including this one.

There were a crowd of noisy folk in one corner & one burst into song halfway through 'Rigs of Rye', with 'South Australia' or some such thing.

We told them to be quiet but one said 'see him, Ewan MacColl says he's the best shanty singer in Scotland' - not EM's fault of course, but I've always remembered it-
I asked Pete Shepheard who they were & I'm sure he said they were   Whites (or Whytes?)the whole thing collapsed into shanties after that but- did you ever record them,   Vic?